大象传媒

With my School Certificate satisfactorily obtained and the cessation of Doodlebug activity I returned home from the safety of the Midlands for a late start to the autumn term in 1944. For a few weeks I was slotted into classes in English, History and Art all of which I enjoyed until my form mistress noticed the large gaps in my timetable and I was lumbered with French as well.

When I turned 16 and because my parents were getting on and father had already postponed his retirement, it was decided I would leave school and earn a living. My headmistress was not happy (but then she never was) but could not enforce the original agreement that I should stay onto the end of my 16th year since I already had the basic qualifications and no prospect of staying on to sit further examinations.

By December when the V2 rockets were falling, I was working in the Central Library in Croydon. Opening hours were then restricted by the 鈥渄im-out鈥� (an easing of the strict blackout conditions) and desperate staff shortages. The Library was heavily used by a population which had no other distractions. People were still wary of congregating together for entertainment and there were only 2 radio networks 鈥� Home and Forces programmes, and no television. I remember the nightmare of Saturday afternoons when the library queue snaked out of the department, down the corridor and past the statue of Queen Victoria. It was put down on the timetable to shelve every book returned between 3 and 5pm which was almost impossible to do by closing time at 5pm because there were so many readers in the way. The oversize and heaviest books were shelved in the gallery and had to be carried by hand up a steep staircase.

By August the next year I had 鈥渆arned鈥� 4 days holiday for 8 months of work and a generous Deputy Borough Librarian gave me the full 5 陆 days which made up a working week. I did not get the previous Saturday - no one ever got a Saturday off.

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